Among the autumnal traditions of Colorado — leaf peeping, beer festivals, bike rides in the fragrant fall air — my Midwestern roots have always felt there was something missing. It smells of meat, vegetables and wood smoke, is cooked in a giant caldron over an open fire and is best enjoyed in the company of family and friends.
Burgoo is that thing. It has roots in Kentucky, where it can be found on barbecue menus and at Derby parties.
But a burgoo is also an event, and there are several burgoo festivals in Illinois, where I grew up. While they take place throughout the year, the best burgoo of my memory always took place behind a family friend’s farmhouse on a wonderfully chilly day in the fall and it is an event that works just as well (safely outside of fire bans) in our cool Rocky Mountain climate.
Like chili and barbecue, part of what makes burgoo so fun is that its recipes are filled with regional nuances, personal touches, secrecy and various must-haves. It evolved from a “roadkill stew” of game meats, so the basic ingredients are at least two types of meat — often poultry and beef, or in Kentucky they call for mutton — various vegetables (lima beans are key) and spices stewed to a thickness that can stand up a spoon.
In my grandma’s dog-eared copy of an early (circa 1950) edition of the “Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook,” a recipe for “Burgoo for Small Parties” calls for 2 pounds each of pork, veal and beef shanks, 2 pounds of breast of lamb, a quarter pound of salt pork and one “4-pound fat hen.” Listed under “vegetable chowders,” it also calls for potatoes, onions, carrots, peppers, cabbage, tomatoes, butter (lima) beans, canned corn and red pepper.
As we recounted the recipe and the Central Illinois burgoos of years past, my grandma pointed out that it was missing okra, a key ingredient in some Southern burgoos that can help kick up that characteristic stewy thickness.
Aniedra Nichols, executive chef at Elway’s Cherry Creek, served burgoo at the 2014 Invest for Kids Derby-theme gala. Nichols, who grew up in the Midwest, too, said she was intrigued by burgoo when it was suggested for the Kentucky-themed menu, reminding her of the canned-vegetable soups and stews she grew up eating. In the end the “kitchen sink” type of recipe surprised her.
“It was surprisingly good,” she said. “Just the addition of fresh produce makes everything so different.”
Nichols used some of the restaurant’s prime cuts of beef and chicken stewed on the bone with the vegetables for about three hours and topped it with cornbread croutons and Tabasco-marinated tomatoes, pulling from the traditional accoutrements of the spicy stew.
The burgoo we shared with our friends in the foothills last fall of course had its Colorado touches. We included elk meat, something that always seems to turn up in our kitchen this time of year thanks to friends and relatives who hunt. We also invited guests to bring something to throw into the pot — which, by the way, was the biggest Granite Ware pot I could find.
The result was a successful, smoky stew containing among other ingredients, roasted Hatch chiles fresh from the farmers market, late squash from the garden and (pre-cooked) homemade Italian sausage.
For Justin Brunson, fellow Midwesterner and chef/owner of meat celebrator Old Major, the dish’s character as a “all-in” stew and a social event has inspired him to give the dish a closer look.
“I’m all about redoing classic American dishes, and it’s cool and different,” he said, pointing to the head-to-tail possibilities of stew. “I hadn’t heard about it in so long. It’s cool because it’s so forgotten.”
What chefs can’t re-create in the kitchen, though, is the smokiness of the wood fire. Some burgoo enthusiasts will go into barbecue territory, insisting on one wood over another.
Either way, cooking your burgoo outside in the largest pot you can find on one of Colorado’s beautiful fall days, with some friends and maybe a cold beer or a few will help you transform your burgoo from a stew into an event.
Burgoo
This recipe is a springboard for your own stew that is sure to evolve over time. The best burgoo has additions of meats and vegetables from party guests. Increase the recipe for a larger party. Cut corn cobs cook well in the stew. Add meats and a beef stew bone for more broth and flavor. Serve with cornbread and hot sauce. Serves 6-8.
Ingredients
2 slices thick butcher bacon, diced
6-7 dried Thai chiles (chiles de árbol), seeded, split and chopped
1 pound chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on (about 4)1 pound beef and/or lamb stew meat
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons flour
6 cups beef broth
1 28 -ounce can stewed tomatoes and juice, chopped
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ -inch cubes
2 cups small lima beans, great northern navy beans or butter beans
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
2 cups tomato juice
1 cup okra, fresh or frozen
juice of one lemon
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Directions
Begin cooking on the stove. On medium-high heat, cook bacon in the stew pot. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, then add the chiles for one minute to toast. Remove the chiles with a slotted spoon and set them aside with the bacon. Brown the chicken in the bacon grease in the pot, then remove and set aside. Do the same with the stew meat.
Cook the onions in the grease in the pot (add olive oil if needed). Cook the onions until they are translucent. Add the garlic and flour and cook until garlic is fragrant, stirring to prevent burning. Add a few tablespoons of broth to help scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the rest of the broth, Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes, beef and chicken.
Stew the meat about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken and remove its bones, then return the meat to the pot. At this point, move the pot to a grate over a fire if hosting an outdoor burgoo.
Add the bacon and chiles, tomato juice and vegetables and stew for at least one hour.
